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Surprise; Contradiction; Short answers.

In lesson test, we had started studying "short answers and tags" expressing an approval or a denial, as well as expressions such as "so do I", "neither do you".

In English, there are several other forms of short answers expressing different emotions or feelings. The principle to build these construction is still the same: you must employ the REPETITION OF THE AUXILIARY used in the prompt, but the word order and the intonation, when the sentence is spoken, really make a difference.

1) Some tags can express a surprise from the speaker:

interrogative form: = AUXILIARY + SUBJECT + ?

ex: "It was an excellent movie." "Was it?"

ex: "I'm hungry!" " Are you? "

ex: "I can't speak French..." "Can't you ?"

2) They can also express a contradiction from the speaker:

negative form = SUBJECT + AUXILIARY+ NOT !

(

The subject must be strongly stressed!)

ex: "I'm so tired." " I'm not! " (The speaker is contradicting the other person.)

ex : " I want to leave now!" " I don't" (The speaker doesn't agree with the other person)

ex: " I don't want to go tomorrow! " " I do!" (The speaker's willpower and the other person's are contradictory.)

Well! That's it! It's short, easy but somewhat tricky!

Be careful and you'll succeed!

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1. ' Oh Mom, I was so hungry at lunch that I ate all my vegetables! ' 'Lucy, ? That's wonderful! You're a big girl!'

2. I'll open the door for him, if he arrives late!' '' ! He must learn to be on time!'

3. 'Why did you do that to him?' ' !'

4. 'You were so frightened that you shouted like mad!' ' !'

5. ' He's so reliable as a parent!' 'No, !'

6. 'He used to suck his thumb when he was a baby.' 'Oh! ?'

7. ' That's unbelievable! You didn't do it!' ' Yes! !'

8. ' I suppose I should give my answer right away!' 'No! ! You should think it over.'

9. 'I love him so much...' ' ?'

10. 'For a few years, women have been equal to men!' ' ! You're not realistic!'

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